Improvement in compound lumber



D. M. CUMMINGS COMPOUND-LUMBER.

Patented Oct. 10. 1816.

WITNESSES INVENTOR my. I

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I ATTORN EY- JAMES R OSGOOD 8 CO BUSTCN.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DANIEL M. CUMMINGS, OF ENFIELD, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

IMPROVEMENT IN COMPOUND LUMBER.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 183,042, dated October 10, 1876 application filed September 23, 1874.

.To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, D. M. CUMMINGS, 0f Enfield, in the county of Grafton and State of New Hampshire, have invented certain Improvements in the Manufacture of Lumber, of which the following is a specification The object of my invention is to provide a composite lumber, in which a backiu g of cheap wood is united to a face of more expensive material, in the manner hereinafter described, so as to form a single structure, the backing and face consisting, each, of one or more 'sections or varieties of wood, as utility or ornament may require.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a piece of composite lumber made in accordance with my invention, and Fig. 2 a view showing sections of the lumber detached.

A represents the backing, and B the face portion, of the lumber, the latter consisting of the expensive wood required for giving finish and ornamen tal effect, and the former being composed of cheaper material, which imparts the requisite body, and, in some instances, adds to the strength. At the back of the facing-section are formed a series of alternate ribs, a, and grooves 1), adapted to 00- inciding ribs and grooves of the backing, so that when the two are united under pressure the ribs of one section will enter the grooves of the other, the parts being so proportioned that the friction between the sides of the tongues will serve, in many instances, to bind the sections together. For greater security a glue or other cement may be used, avery small portion of which will unite the different parts of the structure to form, practically, one piece.

The backing and facing may each consist of a single piece of wood, or may be built up of a series, each section of which is united to the others in the same manner as the backing and facing are united to each other; and these sections may consist of wood of different kinds or colors, as utility or ornament may render advisable.

The composite lumber, while much cheaper than solid lumber of corresponding size of the same material as the facing, may be applied and used in the same manner as the latter, and, in many instances, is superior thereto, being stronger, less liable to warp and shrink, and, in some cases, requiring less labor in the construction of articles made therefrom-es, for instance, in the construction of heavy doors, which may be made directly from the composite lumber, instead of making the body first of pine or other cheap wood, and then facing or veneeriug the latter with the more expensive material, as usual. It will also be apparent that the composite lumber may be used with advantage in the manufacture of moldings, and for ornamental purposes-as in parquetry, marquetry, &c.the cutting of the lumber transversely, or at various angles, serving to display the different materials of which it is composed in an ornamental manner at the out surfaces.

I am aware that different kinds of wood have been united through the medium of dovetailed grooves and projections; but it is apparent that, owing to the necessity of sliding the dovetails into the grooves, such a mode of union is impracticable in a compound lumber where strips of many feet in length must be joined.

I claim as my invention As a new article of manufacture, compound lumber, composed of different woods united at their inner faces by means of parallel tongues and grooves, substantially as described and shown, for the purpose set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own invention I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

DANIEL M. CUMMINGS.

Witnesses:

O. G. MORGAN, FRANK HowE. 

